What happened to the government's Plug-In car grant?

In a bid to limit the damage that comes from our car engines - the government has been trying to encourage people to use more eco-friendly forms of transport. There is growing pressure for the petrol and diesel engine ban to be brought forward from 2040 to 2032. The government had an incentive called the Plug-In Car Grant (PICG) that helped drivers switch over to electric and hybrid engines. However, some changes have just been made to it, so, are they good or bad? And, are we doing enough across the motor industry to help save the planet?

The PICG was an initiative that was introduced back in 2011 by the government as an incentive for motorists to go green. The grant was split into three categories - category one allowed motorists to claim back money on fully electric vehicles and categories two and three allowed motorists to claim back money on hybrid vehicles.

The new reform of the PICG has been heavily criticised as the government has announced that they’ll be scrapping categories two and three. Previously motorists could claim up to £2,500 on hybrid vehicles. Under the new plans you won’t be able to claim back for hybrid vehicles at all. Since the announcement was made it’s been suggested that around 900 grants have been claimed each day - which is a massive jump compared with the 140 claim per day for the first six months of 2018.

Another part of the reform is the reduced rate available for category one vehicles. Under the newer PICG you can only make claims for fully electric vehicles. The old PICG meant that you could claim up to £4,500 back for electric vehicle purchases. Under the new plans you’ll be able to claim for them still at a reduced rate of £3,500.

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